Pearls in the rough: How mother and daughter are helping change the world, one child at a time

MANILA, Philippines – In the heart of Tondo, Manila is a community where one problem meets another: dilapidated housing, poor living conditions, lack of access to clean water, no sustainable livelihood, an unsafe environment. Understandably, education remains a privilege. This community is called Helping Land.

The place, God-forsaken as it may seem, is sustained by helping hands that know no distance. Perhaps because they are found in the underbelly of Philippine society hidden far and away from the surface, they call their movement Project PEARLS, which stands for Peace, Education, Aspiration, Respect, Love, and Smiles.

It was founded by US-based mother and daughter Melissa Villa and Francesca Mateo, who decided to help the community after seeing how its people, particularly the children, were in desperate need of nourishment – not only of stomach, but also of heart and mind.

Mother and daughter Melissa and Francesca, together with Melissa’s sibling Juan, founded Project PEARLS to help the poorest of the poor across the country.

“We are on our third year at Helping Land. The inhumane living and working conditions there made us stay longer. We want to alleviate poverty in that community not only by sending children to school through our scholarship program but also by opening other educational and learning opportunities not only to children but to adults as well,” Villa said.

Project PEARLS is a non-profit organization founded with the vision of helping the poorest of the poor communities in the country. It is a social media movement that aims to spark real change in the communities they serve.

From a handful of roughly 12 volunteers, the organization has expanded to over a hundred helping hands joining together to feed over 300 children everyday, and give them age-appropriate learning activities.

“We get volunteers mainly through Facebook and our website.  Regular and new volunteers share their pictures and experience in volunteering on Facebook or Instagram and their social media network get interested and wanted to help, too,” Villa mentioned.

While Melissa and her brother Juan Villa do the on-ground efforts, Francesca represents the organization in Filipino-American communities.

With the support of private citizens and donors, a health center was built and is now operational.

“I represent PEARLS in different Fil-Am events throughout the Bay Area as well as host my own fund-raising events. For example, my friends and I host an annual kickball tournament that brings out the ‘kids at heart’ among our community members to help support the kids of Project PEARLS,” she explained.

Because of overwhelming support from various people and organizations, Project PEARLS’ initiatives have now expanded from a simple daily feeding program to scholarship provision, literacy camps, and healthcare programs.

“Our current project is the healthcare center inside the community.  We just opened the center a few weeks ago to give the children of Helping Land free and more accessible medicine and medical care. Our future project is providing mobile showers and toilets in container vans. Hundreds if not thousands of women and girls have to bathe in public with their clothes on. The project aims to restore their privacy and dignity,” Villa said.

For her, the fact that her family unconditionally supports her in what she calls a “crazy” mission is more than enough to continue doing what she is doing.

“Not only is my mom moving mountains with hundreds of children, she’s providing them with opportunities for them to learn how to move mountains on their own. She proved that the children from Helping Land and Ulingan are capable of pursuing their dreams despite coming from neglected communities. All those seemingly impossible things that she has accomplished tells me that I can accomplish great things, too, especially because she helped me build such a strong foundation for myself,” Francesca said.

At six years, the organization is relatively young, and it still has a lot to do – more people to help, more citizens to inspire, and more energy to dedicate to fulfill their mission.

“The change that PEARLS seeks is for us not to be needed. We want the children in our communities to be provided with enough tools to sustain a successfully educated and healthy lives themselves. But of course, as the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. We need societal change in order for our change to grow,” Francesca added.

Melissa dreams that someday, the Philippines will have “no more children born and raised in poverty; no more brain drain – no more families that need to break up because one or both parents have to work abroad for lack of jobs and opportunities here; for Christians and Muslims to find a common and respectable ground. For a drug-free nation but for this generation and the next to value and respect life.”

To support Project PEARLS’ mission, visit www.projectpearls.org and like their page at facebook.com/projectPEARLS1.